Second Round Drops Liberty down Cleveland Golf Palmetto Leaderboard

Mathieu Fenasse leads the Flames following two rounds of action at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Invitational.

A nine-shot difference between Liberty's first and second rounds on Monday dropped the Flames six spots down the leaderboard, as Liberty currently is tied for ninth place at the 17th annual Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate.

No. 36/36 Liberty (Golfstat/Golfweek) circled the par-70, 6,617-yard Palmetto Golf Club at 10-over par 290 during the morning flight and shared third place with No. 7/11 Virginia.

No. 31/27 Clemson was the best team in the 18-team field during the morning, carding a one-over par 281 to lead No. 26/25 South Carolina by eight strokes following the Gamecocks' opening round eight-over par 289.

However, the Flames were not able to keep pace with the other top ranked teams in the field during the second round, as Liberty carded a 19-over par 299 during the afternoon circuit. Following 36 holes of action, Liberty (290-299) currently shares ninth place with GRU Augusta (294-295) as both teams recorded 36-hole total of 29-over par 589.

Clemson is still the clubhouse leader; however, the Tigers now are followed six shots behind by fellow ACC foe Virginia.

Clemson currently leads the field with an 11-over par 571 (281-290), while the Cavaliers are in second place with a 17-over par 577 (290-287). Virginia moved up the leaderboard by carding the afternoon's best team score.

South Carolina is currently in third place with a 19-over par 579 (289-290), while Georgia State (294-291) and Wofford (297-288) share fifth place with a 25-over par 585.

Six shots separate eight teams between fifth and 11th place heading into tomorrow's final round action. Clemson's Austin Langdale individually leads the 90-man field following consecutive one-under par rounds of 69 to post a two-under par 138.

Three players share second place and are three strokes behind Langdale with a one-over par 141 – Virginia's Derek Bard (72-69), South Carolina's Will Strake (70-71) and Furman's Preston Heyward (68-73). Liberty's most consistent golfer on the day was junior Mathieu Fenasse, who is currently tied for sixth place following a three-over par 143 (72-71).

Niklas Lindstrom was one of five golfers to break par during the opening round with a two-under par 68. However, the senior followed his 10th round at par or better this season with a seven-over par 77 to drop back to a share of 10th place with a five over par 145.

Rounding out Liberty's final three golfers in the field are Chase Marinell, who shares 42nd place with a nine-over par 149 (76-73), Ian McConnell, who is tied for 62nd place with a 12-over par 152 (74-78), and Jacob Mast, who is tied for 78th place with a 17-over par 157 (79-78).

The Flames will return to the Cleveland Golf Course tomorrow at 11 a.m. to begin final round action at the 17th annual Cleveland Golf Palmetto Invitational. The Flames will be paired with golfers from Chattanooga and Maryland and will be sent off the No. 10 tee.